1/8 of an inch fixed it

Friday November 22, 2013
Hunting Island State Park
South Carolina

 

*yes I’m behind on my posts again.  What else is new?  I know the 22nd has passed but it’s an important date in my life and this is how it seemed to me this year.

 

November 22nd is the 50th Anniversary of the death  of John Kennedy.  Along with  9/11, I think 11/22 is one of the saddest days in  our national history.  They are similar tragedies it seems to me.  Those of us old enough all remember exactly where we were when we heard the news.  This date  too changed our nation in a way similar to 9/11.  We no longer felt safe.  Someone had assassinated our president  in broad daylight  in a major city surrounded by thousands of people. It seemed only fitting that our day today begin gray and dreary.

 

 

 

As you see, the day does begin dark and  dreary.

 

The clouds don’t lift but eventually spots of color peek through.  Not much of a sunrise but when the sun finally shines through the opening in the clouds the sun beams shine down.

 

 

 

 

There is more color in the western skies behind me where I see the moon is high in the sky over the campground.

 

 

 

And now for the weather report.

Gray skies for the morning, too many clouds for sunrise but the  temperature is fine and warmly dressed I sit out on the beach in a tiny spot next to the dunes as the high tide sends the water closer and closer to me.   This is one of the widest and flattest beaches we have seen.  At low tide we speculate there is 50 yards of flat beach between the dune and the water.  So it is quite a surprise to see  the water come right up to the dunes at high tide.

 

 

 

Clearly it doesn’t seem as warm to me as it does to Judith.  She was there about 20 minutes and then put her clothes back on, chatted a bit and walked off.  She told me she’s from Ontario.  I guess this must seem really warm to her.

 

 

 

Actually the temperature  is fine but it’s another windy day so the wind chill  makes at least me require some fleece on my legs and  arms if not my feet.   The wind is making some rough waves and a lot of spray.

 

  

 

 

After lunch I head out for what is becoming a daily beach walk to one end or the other . 

Along the way I find this really great looking jellyfish.  I’ve heard that the clear ones don’t sting.  Does anyone know if that’s true or if this is a special kind of Jellyfish.   I couldn’t find anything about it on line.

 

 

 

 

 

 

GUESS what we’re having for dinner!

We’re going to Gay’s Fish House just a mile or so over the bridge on St.  Helena’s island to pick up some oysters for dinner  mmmmmm.  I do LOVE oysters.  And lobster and crabs  and  clams and……….

 

 

 

 

 

 

And  what has David been doing you ask?

 

 

While I’ve been beaching around David has been doing his favorite thing – FIXING STUFF.

He’s  had a VERY productive day.  He fixed the door.  Hoo RAY!!

He had moved the striker bolt but that didn’t fix the problem so he raised the door by loosening the 6 hinge screws  and using our bottle jack to raise it up 1/8th of an inch.  That closed the gap at the top where it wasn’t sealing and  also lined  up the closure mechanism with the striker bolt.  Everything is working wonderfully now. 

THANKS DAVID!  It’s so fine to be able to close the door easily with  just a push rather than a SLAM.  I LOVE it!!

 

He also cleaned some rust off of the bikes, washed and  polished them.  This pesky salt air is hard on all the machines.   We’ve been around  the ocean fairly constantly for most of the year from Florida to Maine.

 

 

This early dark really catches us unaware.

 

We don’t realize how late it is and end up trying to cook the oysters in the dark.  It’s especially hard to shuck them.  A word to the wise, take a look.

 

 

 

Pretty hard to see for shucking to make sure you get them all when they grow piled on top of each other they way they do.

 

And after all  that, they were SO good I forgot to take a picture of them.  Although oysters don’t look beautiful on a plate anyway.  We only cooked half of them so I’ll try to remember tomorrow.

And the house fell in

Thursday November 21, 2013
Hunting Island State Park
South Carolina

 

 

It’s another gray chilly day.

 

 

 

After breakfast we head over to the Nature Center to walk down to the southern tip of the island.  First a walk  out the pier where only two people are fishing today and  they say they aren’t catching anything so they are moving over to the lagoon.   But the views of the marsh are beautiful.

 

 

This  is where we intend to go.  Over there to the tip of the island, that gray piece of sand before the trees.

 

 

And this is the road we walk down toward the beach from the Nature Center.

 

 

And this is where the road to the cabins used to go.  Now it goes just this far and disappears  into the  sand  and  sea. 

 

 

Only one house remains standing.  We are very surprised to see it still  standing on its pilings  out in the water as we  come around the bend.  When we first came to Hunting Island six of the original dozen cabins remained and some were still  being occupied.  But the last time we came, only 3 remained and none was occupied.

 

 

 

I find  it amazing that this cabin still  stands out in the sea now and its deck is still  attached.  It was  once up on high ground overlooking the water.

 

This  year two of the three we saw last time have fallen into the  sea. The one above is the only one remaining.  Notice my  clothing,  polar fleece and a hooded sweatshirt.  It’s a cold  gray day  as I photograph the house that fell in.  Notice the size of the trees undermined by the sea and their roots.   This is the way of things on a barrier island.

 

 

Now there is only the one house and these remains.  I’ve included a lot of pictures of this one for Carrie who saw it with us when we could actually still go up and  stand on the porch.  I think that was two years ago.

 

 

 

 

David took these from the beach.  The house used to be on the high ground above the beach. You can see what remains of that high ground behind the fallen house.

 

 

 

These were the steps up to the house from the road.  And  the view  now of the house from the top of those stairs.   Last time, we walked up the stairs to stand  on the deck and try to peek  in the windows.  Not any more.

 

   

 

I’m  behind  the house taking this picture  of David on  the beach

 

And here is the driveway where those who rented this cabin  in years past would park their cars.   Now it’s the driveway to no where.   I suspect this is the last we’ll see of this cabin.  In another two years  there will be  hardly a trace.   The sea is mighty, the land  ever changing.

 

 

 

 

As we reach the tip of the island where we can see the bridge we  also see this gathering.

 

 

 

There must be a school  of fish here because the dolphins are swimming back and forth right next to the shore.  Six or eight of them.  We spend a long time watching them and several times see them splash and race after whatever is there.   It’s always shocking when they make such splashing sounds and fly through the water.

 

 

They were really close to the shore.  It seems it would be too shallow for them unless there is a serious drop off right there.  But the beaches on the rest of the island  are very wide and  very flat for a long way out.

 

 

 

While we are there the gray clouds turn to rain clouds.  We are a long way from the Nature Center and our car.  So we  start heading back.  We see a road that appears to lead to the bridge.  That’s the direction we are going.  Perhaps it’s a short cut,  we take it.

 

 

But silly us.  We know there is a wetland marsh along the coast between the end  of  the  island and  the nature center.  Remember the pictures at the beginning of this blog.    And sure enough.  We reach a beautiful dead end  and have to turn around and  go back the long way.

 

 

 

The rain is only a short shower and we don’t get all  that wet.  We are back  in time to eat dinner and go for one more shorter walk  down the beach before  the early 5:15 sunset.  Boy that sure seems WAY too early to me.   This time we walk North along the beach and see some  of the water pools left by the  recent high tide.

 

Looking North

 

Looking South and sort of into the sun which is behind the  clouds and low in the sky. 

 

We never fail to find some beautiful natural artwork.

The horseshoe crab.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gray or not,  it’s been another wonderful day in this life we so lucky to be living.

It’s a Day for Gullah Grub

Wednesday November 20, 2013
Hunting Island State Park and Frogmore South Carolina

 

Today continues the cold spell.

 

It’s not  the temperature alone but the  wind is between 20 and 30 mph all  day.  So it is chilling  outside.  No sun at sunrise or all  day.  Thick clouds, rough water, big waves.
I am able to catch this little bit of color before the clouds all merge together and it is gray, gray, gray.   STILL a gray day at the beach is better than a gray day anywhere else.

Is this another sequester victim?

After walking on the beach, having some breakfast and just piddling around watching the waves we decide it seems like a good day to run some errands given the wind.  We try to stop by the post office to get some stamps but we get there at about 2:05 and they close on Wednesday at noon.  Guess  this is also part of the sequester.  Wonder if they will extend it or cancel it.

On a cold day, we need some warm grub.

Time for lunch and we want to try some Gullah cuisine so we stop at Gullah Grub.  Apparently the owner/chef Bill Green is famous in these parts for his secret marinades and sauces he uses in his chicken and ribs.  He also gets high marks for his Crab Chowder.  While  we are there he is in and  out of the kitchen so I am not able to get a picture of him myself.  This one  is off of the web.  
We sit at a table near the back where there is an ongoing loop of Bill’s cooking demonstrations being played on the TV.  Bill shows you how  to fix his macaroni and cheese and his baked ribs and chicken which he swears you won’t know from fried.  The secret is Bill’s Rub and Sauce which he will of course sell to you for your own use. 

 

 

Gullah Grub opens at noon on Wednesdays and there are only two other people inside when we come  in.  Two more follow us in. 
The friendly young waitress brings us fabulous cornbread while we look at the menu. I already knew what I wanted when I walked in. 

 

 

 

There’s no more crab – sniff….sniff!

 

But when I order the Crab Chowder which is THE  thing I want, I’m told they are out of it?  In two hours?   Since they are open from noon until five, I’m thinking Bill doesn’t make it every day after “the season”.  DARN!   If you want to be sure you get some, my advice is to call  ahead and make sure it will be there.
I try the Shrimp Gumbo and as gumbos go, it is good but I’m not really a gumbo fan.   I’m a crab fan.  David has the fish chowder with red rice and fresh green salad.   All  of his food is excellent.   I should  have ordered Bill’s BBQ ribs or chicken.

 

 

 

Since there are so few people  in the restaurant, I don’t feel comfortable taking many inside pictures or using the flash to correct the  difficult lighting but I do want to remember the lovely front windows and the walls lined with  information and paintings for sale.

 

 

The Gullah people have a long proud heritage.

In previous trips to this area, I learned that the Gullah are the descendents of the enslaved  African people of the low country in South Carolina and Georgia, primarily of the 79 Sea Islands.  Their language is called Geechee and they are often referred as the Gullah-Geechee people.   They have preserved much of their African linguistic and cultural heritage.  They speak an English based Creole language containing many African words and sentence structures known as Sea Island Creole.  Gullah cuisine, music, folk traditions and beliefs, crafts, farming, fishing and story telling traditions exhibit strong influences from West and Central African areas such as Angola, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia.

 

When the Civil War began with Fort Sumter in nearby Charleston harbor, the union rushed to blockade confederate shipping.  White planters on the sea islands fled and when union forces arrived in 1861, the Gullah people of the Sea Islands were the first to be freed.  Many served with distinction in the Union Army’s First South Carolina Volunteers.  Long before the Civil War ended union missionaries came from Pennsylvania to start schools for the newly freed slaves.  The Penn Center, now a Gullah community organization, was the first school.

After the civil war, the sea islands fell out of favor as a hot mosquito infested hostile environment and the Gullah were able to continue their traditional life style with little outside influence until the later 20th century.  Since the 1960’s resort development of the Sea Islands has threatened to push the Gullah people off lands they have owned since emancipation.   You know how it goes, get a toe hold, develop, raise property values, raise taxes, force the poor people off their land so you can buy it and continue the cycle.  In recent years the Penn Center and other community groups have led the struggle to keep control of their traditional lands. 

 

 

 One of these years, I’m going to remember to plan so I can attend in spite of crowds I know  will be there.

 

 

 
There is a Gullah Heritage Festival each year in early November to honor their culture and traditions.  It is sponsored by the Penn Center on St. Helena’s Island near Beaufort.   Other cultural festivals are held each year up and down the Low Country.  Hilton Head Island, SC hosts “A Gullah Celebration” in February,  Beaufort hosts “The Original Gullah Festival” in May.  Others are celebrated on James Island SC and Sapelo Island Georgia.

The Gullah are well known for their grass baskets as well as their cooking.  There are a group of beautiful baskets for sale on the front porch and when we first arrive a woman  is sitting in  one of the rockers weaving.  These are works of art and as such the prices reflect it.  They really are stunning.

 

 

This year I discover something I didn’t know.  Gullah groups have made three “homecomings” to Sierra Leone(1989 1997, 2005), the heart of the traditional  rice growing region of West Africa where many of the Gullah ancestors originated. Bunce Island, the British slave castle in Sierra Leone, sent many African captives to Charleston and Savannah slave markets during the mid- and late 18th century. These dramatic homecomings were the subject of three documentary films—Family Across the Sea (1990), The Language You Cry In (1998), and Priscilla's Homecoming (in production?).  I hope to be able to locate some of these to view.  I wonder if they show them at any of the festivals?

 

The name Frogmore  just makes me smile!!

 

 

After our late lunch we head for the grocery.   On the way home I realize in going over my list that I forgot to pick up garlic.  Cardinal sin in our cooking.  Pretty much everything  has tons of garlic.  So we stop at the Low Country Store which like Bill’s Gullah Grub is located in Frogmore South Carolina.  I love the name.   Wouldn’t you love to write that as your address?  Frogmore, South Carolina.

 

  

I think we all should – definitely – Frog More.